1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vehicle window regulator for moving an associated window between open and closed positions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Vehicle window regulators conventionally include sector gears and cooperable pinion gears and are connected to associated vehicle windows by crank arms on the sector gears. A slidable connection between the crank arm and the window is utilized to provide vertical window movement while accommodating for the concomitantly changing horizontal relationship between the sector gear axis of movement and the window. Guides located along the front and rear edges of the associated window are utilized to control positioning thereof in cooperation with the window regulator. Manually driven rotation of the pinion that drives the sector gear conventionally takes place about a horizontal axis that is generally perpendicular to the direction of window movement.
Some current production vehicles have windows which are curved between their upper and lower edges and move generally along a curved path between an upper closed position and a lower open position. These windows must be controlled by a regulator whose operation accommodates for the curvature involved in moving the window between its open and closed position. With vehicle side windows, this curvature is in a direction inwardly when moving in an upward direction and is referred to as "tumble-home". A crank arm connected to such a curved window must flex in an inboard and outboard direction to accommodate for inboard and outboard movement of the window as it is raised and lowered between its open and closed positions.
Another type of window regulator disclosed by the prior art incorporates a drive cable that is trained over a drive roller and a number of idler rollers as well as being connected to the window so that driving movement of the cable moves the window between its open and closed positions. The drive roller utilized with this type of regulator usually has to have a driving groove that receives the cable in order to generate sufficient driving force therebetween to move the window. Such regulators as of yet have not been used extensively with production vehicles.